When I was in third grade, my teacher had a poster in our reading corner that featured a child's hand reaching out to touch a floating fairy, with the title Fairy Tale: A True Story below them. I always wondered what that poster represented, but I didn't find out until almost twenty years later that … Continue reading The Cottingley Secret, by Hazel Gaynor →

Every reader knows the joy of going to used book stores. Or in my case, the Half-Price Books Mega Book Sale that occurs every fall in my area, where you can find books for dirt cheap. I've forgotten a large chunk of the books I bought at my first shopping spree, but one that sticks … Continue reading Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, by Patrick Suskind →

Few series in the last year or so have held me as tight as the American Royals series has. I once again stumbled upon the next book in this story at a local bookstore, and I snatched that book up as if it were a treasure. I'm glad to have finally settled the tension as … Continue reading Reign: American Royals IV, by Katherine McGee →

Fantasy can be a very cozy genre. After all, you can escape to faraway lands and spend time with unique and fun characters you might have never encountered before. That said, a properly cozy fantasy story has to strike the right balance of engaging adventure and low-stakes conflict. Too much of either, and "cozy" may … Continue reading The House Witch #1, by Delemhach →

I love the spooky season, but sometimes, when it becomes combined with a variety of stressful life factors, it becomes a bit hard to get through. Add in the fact that I decided to cram in a horror/Halloween movie every day during the month of October and attend a spooky event every weekend, and I … Continue reading The Castle in the Attic, by Elizabeth Winthrop →

I think everyone has that one film they were shown in class that made them a little uncomfortable, and that film for me was my high school senior year Spanish class showing Como Agua Para Chocolate, or Like Water for Chocolate. It was such an explicitly erotic film that made seventeen-year-old me a little awkward, … Continue reading Like Water for Chocolate, by Laura Esquivel →

Now that Stacey Brown and her, ahem, friends have come back into my reading orbit after all these years, it seems only fitting to continue reading their story into the spooky season. Although, I suppose it's been spooky season here for a while, hasn't it? Anyway. Stacey only managed just in time to solve the … Continue reading White is for Magic (Blue is for Nightmares #2), by Laurie Faria Stolarz →

In case it wasn't obvious, I had a thing for witch stories even as a kid. Last year, I reviewed the nostalgic Magic in Manhattan series, which I read countless times growing up and still hold very close to me, despite the series' more apparent flaws. Although Bras and Broomsticks is my most nostalgic young … Continue reading Hex Education, by Emily Gould and Zareen Jaffery →

After Ella Enchanted captured my imagination so many years ago, not surprisingly, I was ready for other Gail Carson Levine stories to come my way. I read a few other stories of hers since then, but I haven't remembered any with such fondness as The Two Princesses of Bamarre. In part, I am fond of … Continue reading The Two Princesses of Bamarre, by Gail Carson Levine →

If you're tired of the witch books, I'm sure the craze will end soon, and we'll go back to the random book loving soon…though I make no guarantees. Anyway, onto the show. During the early stages of my current witch book phase, I was pursuing the romance shelf at my local Barnes & Noble, and … Continue reading Go Hex Yourself, by Jessica Clare →